Hero of Oakvale
The Hero of Oakvale is the main protagonist in both Fable and its expansion Fable: The Lost Chapters. He is the only playable character in both the above games. His name is never directly mentioned in the games, and he is often referred to as "The Hero", "Farmboy" or simply "Boy". The people of Albion will likely call the Hero by his customizable Hero title, which is always "Chicken Chaser" at the beginning of the game. His appearance is also customizable, and thus depends on the player's preferences. In the cut scenes narrated by The Guildmaster, he is depicted as having long dark brown or black hair and clean shaven. His outfit changes in almost every one of the cut scenes. He is the most powerful Hero in Albion because of his ancient bloodline leading back to the ancient rulers of the Old Kingdom, the Archon. He is a master of the three Hero traits, strength, skill and will. Biography Early life The Hero is the child of the famous heroine Scarlet Robe, who was often away from Oakvale due to her responsibilities as a Hero, so the Hero's father Brom looks after him and his older sister Theresa most of the time. The Hero starts off on a seemingly normal day as a young boy in Oakvale getting a birthday present for Theresa by either performing enough good deeds to earn gold from his father or performing bad deeds in order to gain money. He eventually gets the present and gave it to his sister. As much as she wanted to celebrate the day, she warned him of strange dream she had; a vision of great terror, chaos and pain. As they head back into the village, a man runs by screaming about a group of bandits attacking the village the once peaceful village, determined to rob and murder the humble villagers as they searched for the boy. The boy hides behind a nearby fence; however, Theresa is not so lucky and is captured by the bandits. The bandits pillaged long into the night. The blue sky became completely enveloped in a blanket of total darkness as a fierce inferno engulfed the village, burning homes and taverns down to the ground. The boy could do nothing but listen to the shrill cries of the villagers, desperately trying to defend themselves against the bandit horde. The simple people of the village proved an easy task for the bandits, and almost everyone is killed. The terrified boy returns to the town, but not a soul could be found, only destruction. He wandered to his home and is heart-broken to find the corpse of his father and begins to cry. Suddenly, a lone bandit charges straight towards the defenseless child. Fortunately, a brave Hero by the name of Maze was able to intervene, and killed the bandit in a single attack, saving the young boy from harm. He warns the boy that if he doesn't come with him then he too would become a victim of the Oakvale massacre. The boy, scared and confused, reluctantly agrees and Maze teleports the two of them to the sanctuary for all Heroes, the Heroes' Guild. Heroes Guild The boy is offered a home at the Heroes' Guild where he is given the opportunity to train and possibly become a Hero himself. The boy, eager to avenge his family's death and take down the bandits who had crushed his village, readily accepts Maze's offer. It was there that the boy spent the rest of his childhood, studying the ways of the Hero day and night, in the hopes that he might one day discover the bandits behind the vicious attack on Oakvale, and take his revenge. There he is accepted by the Guildmaster and begins training with Whisper, a fellow apprentice, rival and friend. After many years of intense training of both mind and body he would, together with Whisper, become a full-fledged graduate of the Heroe's Guild and become a Hero. Life after the Guild As the boy begins his new life as a Hero, he gradually becomes more and more famous and more and more powerful. He escorts a pair of traders through Darkwood, defending them against balverines and an Earth Troll before reaching his destination - the barrow fields. Nearby is his hometown of Oakvale, which has been rebuilt. He is recognized by a young girl who, now grown, he had helped in the opening scenes by getting her teddy bear 'Rosy' from a bully. Maze contacts the Hero with news that his sister may have survived the raid. Maze advises him to seek out the "bandit seeress" of the bandit king and former Hero, Twinblade. After fighting his way through the bandits' camp, he comes face to face with Twinblade, and after a short, but brutal, fight the Hero defeats him. As he winds up his weapon for the final strike, he is stopped by a mysterious girl. It is Theresa. She explains to the hero what happened after the day Oakvale burned, how she had been blinded by torture and ended up being saved by Twinblade's bandit clan. Though blind, her other senses had become greatly heightened and awakened an inner strength which focused her "dreams" into prophecies. She talks about their mother and a choice that the Hero would have to make some day, and gives him a letter she had written and a book about their bloodline. She then leaves in search of their mother after magically unlocking some hidden energy within The Hero, making him stronger, then forever leaves the bandit who raised her. You may then finish Twinblade or spare him. Either way he will send Assassins after you, shamed by his defeat. The Hero's next step, to find out about his mother, is to search for Maze's friend, known as "The Archaeologist", an expert in the Old Kingdom. This search takes the Hero to Witchwood and vanquishes a Rock Troll along the way finding the Archaeologist behind a mysterious Demon Door, only to have him run away for fear of being found by darker forces. While in Witchwood, the Hero makes his way to Knothole Glade, which is having balverine problems. He is attacked several times by the White Balverine while in the village until he recieves a silver augmentation for his weapon, from the wife of the White Balverine prior his mutation. With this he drives the White Balverine out of the village and takes the fight to it's home in Witchwood Lake, where he defeats the White Balverine and all it's regular counterparts. This herioc deed made the Knothole Glade Chieftain eager to nominate him for competition in the Witchwood arena. He is successful in the early rounds and fights many brutal oppenents, eventually being joined by Whisper. They handily deal with several rounds of vicious opponents, including the mighty Arachanox, a gigantic scorpion. While celebrating their victory, a mysterious figure appears - introduced as the 'Hero of Heroes', Jack of Blades - who commands that the Hero and Whisper fight each other to death. Here, the Hero stands with the choice to either kill his old friend, earning a reward for doing so, or let her live. After becoming the Arena Champion, he meets Jack of Blades in the Hall of Heroes, and is told where he can find his mother, Scarlet Robe, who had also been an Arena Champion. The Hero's rivalry begins with Whisper's older brother Thunder, who is jealous of the attention Lady Grey devotes to the newest arena champion. The Hero understands that to find his mother he must rescue the Archaeologist, who has been abducted from Bowerstone jail by strange demons called minions. The Hero cuts his way through hordes of minion to get to the Archaeologist before he is shipped off to prison, who tells the Hero that there is an ancient, otherwise hidden entrance to Bargate Prison - where Scarlet Robe is being held - a dangerous road through the Lychfield Graveyard. The Hero is led to the crypt of a legendary Hero named Nostro, who alone can reveal the needed path and whose armour has been stolen by the Gravekeeper. After collecting the four pieces amongst countless undead, risen from their graves, he returns each piece to the crypt which causes Nostro to signal a Demon Door close by to open, revealing the path to the hidden prison. The Hero makes his way through several tunnels to the prison and finally finds his mother. Just as the Hero and Scarlet are about to escape Jack of Blades, who is ultimately the head of the prison, appears in their path, revealing that he had set up the rescue from the start to trap them both. Both The Hero and his mother are captured and locked away. Hunt for Jack of Blades At least one year goes by, and during this time Jack is "free to roam Albion". Finally, The Hero finds the means of escape and, together with Scarlet Robe, fights his way back through the tunnels, ultimately having to defeat the legendary Kraken to escape. After a ferocious battle he casts it back into the deep pit it is contained and makes it back to the graveyard - which is now seemingly peaceful. After a brief reunion with his mother, The Hero and Scarlet Robe part ways (not before his mother unlocks another untapped source of power in his blood) to try and stop Jack from finding the Sword of Aeons, which would give him even more power. Scarlet goes to find Theresa while The Hero heads for Hook Coast to find the key which Jack of Blades needs to activate all the Focus sites which will lead him to The Sword. On his first trip to the old abbey of Hook Coast, a magical barrier blocks his path but his mother finds a book in Maze's quarter which could unlock the barrier. Upon returning to the Guild he is a moment too late to save his mother from begin kidnapped by minions of Jack. Nevertheless, he takes the book his mother has found and gives it to The Guildmaster, who is familiar with the arcane runes that will grant the Hero access to the abbey. He stands by the barrier as the Guildmaster reads the runes and unlocks the mystical forcefield. There he finds Maze who has his sister imprisoned with magic, claiming that Theresa is being controlled by Jack of Blades. Theresa counters his claims, accusing Maze of joining Jack of Blades' forces and betraying the Guild. Jack arrives and orders Maze to trap the Hero, and takes the key, in the process revealing Maze's true allegiance. He teleported himself away so that he could activate the focus sites as Theresa uses her own will abilities to free her brother. The Hero and Maze fight fiercely, their battle taking them all over the town of Hook coast, culminating at the foot of the lighthouse. Maze's full power proves to be no match for the Hero and he is cut down. Before drawing his last breath, Maze reveals his motives for joining Jack and confesses that the Hero may be powerful enough to defeat Jack. He explains Jack's plan to activate all the sites around Albion and wishes the Hero success in his quest before dying. The Hero of Oakvale chases Jack of Blades all over Albion to each of the four Focus sites, hacking his way through the forces of Evil, along with the help of Guild Apprentices, Guards and the Heroes Briar Rose and Thunder, the two putting their differences aside to defeat the shadow. The Hero is not fast enough and Jack manages to activate all the sites, before heading for the Guild. The Hero rushes to his former home and when he arrives, the Guild is in flames. Jack has slain any who challenged his wrath, and has left the Guildmaster badly wounded, at the base of a bookcase in the Guild Library. The Guildmaster informs the Hero that Jack's power is vast indeed and that they had no chance of stopping him, and that it was up to the Hero. As the hero enters, Jack mocks him and cuts Scarlet Robes throat. The blood paid, he can now take the Sword of Aeon in hand. However, even with the Sword of Aeons, Jack is overwhelmed by the Hero and, like his ancestor William Black had done ages before, the Hero destroyed Jack's body utterly, casting his soul into the vortex that the Sword of Aeons had been removed from. He was now faced with the choice that Theresa had told him about so many years ago. Either he could take the Sword of Aeons, strike his sister down and have power greater than even Jack dreamed of, or he could destroy it and its darkness forever. An entire year passed, the world settled back into the monotonies of life and the Guild was rebuilt. The Hero walked around Albion for a year seeking his new life. With Jack gone people didn't have as much need of Heroes. After being summoned by the Guildmaster and Briar Rose they receive a message from Scythe, an undead Hero in The Northern Wastes about some dangerous creatures called Summoners and that the "Chosen One" should open the gate to the prophets and take the ancient relic called the Fire Heart. There he had to solve a puzzle called Mystery of Day and Night, if he filled the puzzle with suns he let one of the prophets free and if he fills it with moons he kills one. He then collects the Fire Heart. If The Hero didn't take the Sword of Aeons he returns to The Guild and in Maze's quarters he finds a clue which lead him to the legendary Avo's Tear. He, together with Briar Rose travel to Hook Coast and put The Fire Heart in the lighthouse, when suddenly Summoners attack the lighthouse and the two Heroes have to stop them. When the summoners are defeated and The Fire Heart charged up, The Ship of the Drowned appeared. The Hero traveled with it to the Northern Wastes. From the coast he traveled to the Snowspire Village to talk with Scythe. Scythe's plan was to ask The Oracle from Snowspire village about this evil that curses the Northern Wastes, but for that he needed some glyphs to awaken it. He sent The Hero to Necropolis, a great city inhabited with ghosts. There he had to search and dig for glyphs at the same time that he had to fight the monsters that lived in the town. After killing many creatures he found all the four glyphs. He then awakened the Oracle, who told him that the evil was in fact Jack of Blades. The demon dwelt in the vulcan behind the door called The Bronze Gate. It was foretold that when The Bronze Gate was opened it marked the end of the world. He also told him that if he wanted to open the gate he had to collect, with the mask of Jack of Blades, the souls of three specific heroes. These heroes were A King of the Arena, The Heroine and The Oldest. These descriptions could match with a lot of powerful Heroes. The Hero could now, aloud, hear the thoughts of Jack of Blades. Jack tried to manipulate the Hero to kill the heroes Thunder, Briar Rose, and the Guildmaster to fulfill the quota, while the Hero could follow the path of good, and try to take the souls of already dead Heroes and leave others unharmed, taking the souls of an arena fighter, his mother, and Nostro. After opening the Bronze Gate he faced Jack again, this time in the form of a dragon. After a terrible battle, once again the Hero emerges victorious as he casts down Jack of Blades' newest form receiving the villain's fabled mask, which he now finally realizes contains the demons soul. Scythe telepathically explains to him that The Hero must cast the mask in the flames to destroy it forever, and all the while the mask strives to convince the hero to wear it, thus being Jack's newest host. The Hero felt Jack's influence within him and his promise for power tempted him to the edge. At this point, the Hero has two choices: he can wear the mask and be the most evil being in the world, or he can cast the mask in the flames. Fable II After 500 years The Hero of Oakvale has been said to have been dead. The Hero doesn't make any appearences in the game, but is mentioned in some books and stories. The Hero is said to have wielded the Sword of Aeons, yet in the chamber of fate it shows him taking the good choice, and casting it away. He might have wielded Avos Tear which was crafted to look like the Sword of Aeons, thus confusing in-game historians (also, nobody had ever really seen the sword before, so they would probably only recognise it by its immense power). There is a Demon Door in Oakfield where many believe the Hero of Oakvale spent his final years in a retreat called Serenity Farm, as it is written in the description of the property. However, there is a possibility that he is still alive, as Theresa and Scythe are still alive. Trivia *There exists, in-game, a book named The Trials of Aarkan, the events of said book are markedly similar to the Hero's youth and quest. There also is a crossbow, locked in a silver key chest in Darkwood, named Arken's Crossbow. *In Fable II, you'll find a book saying the Hero had children, but when the Guild was destroyed, all records were lost along with it. Your hero/heroine is likely to be a descendant of him, as the three Hero virtues are passed solely by blood, and the characters of both games possess all three virtues, which is a rarity even among Heroes. *If you beat the game when your character is good, every other hero or heroine in The Guild will start to dress like your character. *The Hero is a part of Archon's bloodline, many of whom seem to be immortal, so the Hero could still be alive, despite references in-game, telling of his death. *Performing enough expressions to Theresa in Fable II will cause her to say "You remind me of someone I once knew long ago". *In the book "The Hero of Oakvale" in Fable II, it states that the Hero of Oakvale used The Sword of Aeons against Jack of Blades, creating a paradox. Because if the Hero of Oakvale used The Sword of Aeons, it means Theresa was sacrificed. Though this may be a historical error on part of the in-game archaeologists, as The Sword of Aeons looks almost identical to the Avo's Tear. It should also be noted that the paintings in the Chamber of Fate depict the "good" ending where the Hero of Oakvale destroyed the Sword of Aeons. It becomes even more likely that it is an in-game historical mistake when taken into consideration the fact that the book mentions the Hero of Oakvale wielding the Sword of Aeons against Jack of Blades' first form. This is impossible as it is Jack himself wielding the Sword during the first battle with him. *One of the loading screens of Fable II says that the hero is rumoured to have killed the Guildmaster (also known as Weaver). Whether there is any truth behind this rumour is left unstated, but is likely a joke for comic relief as it states he carved 'your health is low' into the Guildmaster's forehead. *If you recieve Avo's Tear in Fable:The Lost Chapters, it is implied that the Hero is worthy of being buried at the grave where he found the weapon. *In Fable, the Hero appears to only have 2 toes on each foot. However, it's really one big toe and the four other toes are "grouped" together. *The Hero's hair is very unique in the Fable games, in that it seems to naturally change color as he ages. When he is a child, his hair is brown. When he's a teenager it has turned to black. He later has the possibility of it turning blond. *It may also be assumed that if the Hero of Oakvale died before the destruction of the Guild, he may have been interred in the reserved grave in the Guild courtyard. If this happened, his remains were either destroyed or stolen during the attack, making their whereabouts unknown. *In Fable lll, his doll makes a cameo when editing your house. *The hero's underwear is a union jack flag logo. *The Hero of Oakvale is the only playable character in the Fable series that could be killed in combat (the Hero of Bowerstone and Hero of Fable 3 can only be "knocked out", and the Hero of Southcliff is always triumphant during battle cutscenes). *Despite popular belief The hero of Oakvale is the first to speak with phrases such as (follow,wait,sorry, and shit.) Category:Characters Category:Fable Characters